A Fine Collection of Boer War Medals to Medical Services, the Church and the Press

Three: 2nd Grade Orderly C. W. Lane, Van Alen American Field Hospital and Isle of Wight Corps of St John Ambulance Brigade, later a Police Sergeant in the Metropolitan Police

Queen’s South Africa 1899-1902, 2 clasps, Cape Colony, Orange Free State (2nd Gde: Ord: C. W. Lane, Van Alen American F. Hosp:) officially impressed naming; St. John Medal for South Africa 1899-1902 (333 Pte. C. W. Lane Isle-of-Wight Corps); Coronation 1911, Metropolitan Police (P.S. C. Lane.) mounted as worn, toned, good very fine and very rare (3) £700-£900

This lot was sold as part of a special collection, A Fine Collection of Boer War Medals to Medical Services, the Church and the Press.

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Collection

The medal roll for ‘The Van Alen American Field Hospital’ contains 15 names, including Van Alen himself and 9 men of the St John Ambulance Brigade, 2 of whom were drawn from the Isle of Wight Corps. The Van Alen American Field Hospital was the smallest of the donative hospitals to serve in South Africa, and was formed by Mr. Van Alen, an American citizen who agreed to provide - at his own expense - all necessary equipment and transport. The War Office, for its part, agreed to convey the hospital to South Africa and return it to England when no longer required.

Charles William Lane was born at Wroxall, Isle of Wight, in 1878. He was one of two members of the Isle of Wight Corps of the St John Ambulance Corps who volunteered to serve with the Van Alen American Field Hospital in South Africa. He returned to the Isle of Wight after his experiences in South Africa, and married Ada Norris there in 1904. In 1911 he was employed as a Sergeant in the London Metropolitan Police, living in Lewisham, but is thought to have died on the Isle of Wight in 1962.

Sold with copied medal roll and other research.